Differential mechanism.



xH. W, CDNNELL. DIFFERENTIAL Mgcmmsm; l APPumo'u mzoum. 14. :9153, "1,917, 918', K Pmnted Mana, i917.

2 shears-sneer 1.

um. A' "f H. W. NELL. l, DIFFEREN nmcH/mnswl. I' APPLLCATION FILED MAR. I4, i913.

1,217,918.' l Patented Miu'. 6, 2 s3EETs-sHE 2.

wm Y @www l l A TI'OHNEYI sraaiis ra HARRY W'. CONNELL, 0F BLOOMFIELD, NEW JERSEY.

Dirrnnnn'rmi. ivincnaivisivi.

.To all whom/it may concern.' Be. it known that I, HARRY IVEs'rCo'r'i CONNELL, a resident of the city of Bloomfield, county of Essex, State of New Jersey` have'invented certain new and useful Improvements in Differential Mechanisms. of which the following is a specification. l

A differential mechanism is called upon to perform duties peculiar to itself and it ofttimes happens that much destruction and even loss of life may result from the failure of the differential to quickly respond to the ever changing condition. So as to eliminate as far as possible the chance of failure through the breaking of the parts or the maladjustrnent thereof I have vdiscarded. the many small gears with their numerous:

teeth that are found in the ordinary differential and have substituted therefor a ring and disk which retain between them a smooth roller. All of these parts may be made of the finest grade of delicately tempered steel and may be ofa size sufficient to withstand I many times the strain ordinarily` applied to a differential.

It will be seen that in addition to changing all of the partsI have also made-a very decided change in the manner of operation of differentials for although one of the shafts, or rather one side of the main shaft, may be free to race ahead if occasiony shall require it, it will be found in my device that the power will always be applied to the laggard wheel or rather to the slow shaft.' In this way should a wheel attached to one of vthe shafts have a tendency to slip the traction power will be wholly centered in the other the slower wheel and the engine driving the Wheels through the differential will not race.

Like ordinary differentials this device is entirely automatic in its action regardless of the direction of rotation of the parts, but unlikeordinary differentials the engine cannot advance beyond the slowest wheel nor can both wheels advance beyond'the engine,

a circumstance that makes possible 1n my construction a factor of safety, a coefficient of utility and a strength not found in differentials of the gear type, regardless of their particular style or construction.

The followingis what I consider the best means rof carrying out thisy invention.

The accompanying drawings form a part -of this specification, in which- Figure l shows in elevation partly in sec- Specfication of Letters Patent.

f modification.

Patented Mar. 6, 1917.

Application sied March i4, i913. serial No. 754,228.

tion the casing and contained therein driving and vvdriven shafts with the gears and bearings therefor, and my differential mechanisin 1n its proper place.

Fig. l shows in side and end elevation the rollers used in my device.

F 2 is an end elevation of the roller.

Fig. 3 shows inside and end elevation the pin u-pon which the rollers are mounted.

Fig. 3a is an end elevation of the pin. Fig; 4l shows in side and end elevation a single roller.

Fig. Ala is an end shown in Fig. 4.

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 5 5 in Fig. l and viewed in the direction of the arrow. It shows a disk and a ring together with a. roller that cooperates therewith.

. Fig. 6 shows in vplan the shaft for the rollers 19 and 2l andy the steadying links attached thereto.

Similar reference numerals indicate like parts in allthe figures where they appear.

In describing. my device even as it is shown in the drawings I do not consider it necessary to set forth in detail such parts as are well known and particularly those that in mv construction require no change or I will therefore indicate by the reference numeral l, the exterior casing, and at 2 the driving shaft arranged therein. This driving shaftis supported upon a plurality roller bearings as indicated at 3 and bevel gear 6.

At right angles to the driving shaft, thedriven shafts are arranged as shown at 7 and 8. rIhese shafts extend outward from the center and may support at their ends ordinary traction wheels such, for instance, as are used on an automobile, and it will be noted that the casing l is caused to inclose a certain portion of each of these shafts in thewell known and ordinary manner.

In describing my differential mechanism I desire to call attention to the vfact that it is a duplex structure having two exactly similar setsI of parts and I will describe these parts in rotation leaving the functions thereof to be set forth in the description of the operation.' f Secured to or keyed upon the shaft 7 I arrange a cup or lflanged member 9, cylindrical in cross section though having one end, the right' end as shown. closed as shown I perforate' this closure however directly through its `center for .the 'reception of the shaft 7, and I surround this perforation with a ring 1 1 which may be formed integral with the member. Secured to this ring and supported in the part of the casing them the plate 16 to vwhich the bevel gearI 17 is secured. The disks 14 and 15 are flat and approximately circular in plan, but as shown in Fig. 5 I have out away a portion of each disk so as to produce a plane `18. The member 9 surround the disk 14, and in the open space between the member 9 and the disk 14, which I have produced by cutting away a portion of the disk, I place a roller 19.' A*

I have arranged a second cupped and flanged member 20 siniilar in all respects to the member 9, surrounding the disk 15 and I have placed a second roller 21 ffin line with the roller 19, and have arranged it between the disk 15 and the member 20."'Each'of these rollers 19 and 21 are centrally perforated and through the perforation in the rollers I extend a shaft 22, shown -in detail in Fig. 6, andprovided withthe outwardly extending arms23, 23 one arranged at each end and each provided ,at its'outermost endA with a pin 24;

Upon lthese pinsl/I loosely engage links 25 and 26 and I/ ce neet these links by means of a shaftbrrod- 27 that will be secured in each link, and that will when the device is in operation bear lightly upon the inner periphery of the flange of the members 9 and 20. By this'means I assure thatn the rollers 19 and 21 shall remain in alinement although they are free to revolve independently of each other.' A roller bearing 23isuppor`ts the member 20 and -the shaft 8 secured therein. E

lThus far I have described the separate members of my device. I might add however that -the members 49 and 20, the 'disks '14 and 15 and-the rollers 19 and 21" should be formed of a good grade of steel properly tempered, though in 'my experiments I have descovered that-low steel case-hardened on.

its wearing surfaces will operate satisfactorily.

In describing the operation of the device lI willagain refer to the parts by their numera'ls. l

The engine, or other motive power may .be connected to the outerend of the shaft 2.

Rotatin'gth's shaft will cause the bevel-gear 6 to drive 'the gear 17 and as this gear is keyed to'the short shaft 13, this short shaft will be revolved together with the disks 14 and 15, which are also keyed to this shaft.

- A slight motion-of either 'disk or of both will cause the rollers resting upon the plane between the-disks and the cupped members surrounding lthem, to become securely the members 9 and 20. 'Ihese members, and

wedged vbetween the disks'and the flanges ofv the shafts 7 and 8 secured therein will then also be caused to turn and'thi's motion will continue until upon rounding a curve one of the shafts is induced to travel faster than the other, this forward motionimparted to the cupped or flangedmember secured thereto willcause it to disengage from the surface ofthe roller; holding it, and as the v roller williind itself unable to advance with the flanged member it cannot exert its pinching force and theflanged member may then run free` independent of the driving 4 mechanism.

When, however the fast traveling wheel again assumes its normal speed,vor endeavors to close down vbelow the normal the roller will wedge oncemore between the'v cupped member andthe flange and assure' thatjthewheel will travel at lthe speed ,.de termined by the speed of the engine or motor. My'device may also assistthe brakes in .checking the speed of the traction wheel as its construction positively prohibits both wheels traveling ahead of the driving mechanism as anattempt todo so on theirpart will advance the rollers over the center line l' of their adjacent disks` causing them to'` pinch oriwedge .in the same manner 'as thoughl they were forced ahead by their re 'ice . spective disks. This also demonstrates. thefact that my dilerential vI nechanism will. be equally effective regardless ofthe .of travel of the engine.

' At Fig. 3 I have shown a shaft. 32 vthat ymay be substituted for the shaft 22. This direction MBE shaft 32 isA not provided with the extending arms 23, 23 nor the pins 24;, as I have found that, given-the proper mechanical flt ,and a small amount of clearance at each end the roller will maintaina positionthat would be found satisfactory under most conditions. l i

Although I prefer the device as shown and described it is evident that modificationsl may be made within the scope of the apipended claims without departing from the principle or sacrificing the vadvantages of this invention. y

Having carefully and fully described my invention .what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is '1.' A di'erential mechanism having a plurality of disks rotatable simultaneously and means for rotating' them, each saidv disk hav'- ing a part removed to provide a flattened surface, a cupped member receiving each 0f said disks, a roller-.between the flattened surface of each disk andthea'djacent cupped Aree . the

of. said'shaft, a link/extending from .each said-j'projection and a bar connectingsaid said lbar being adapted to bear upon of, which is removed, a cupped shaped membery receiving each said disk, l,and upon the inner periphery of which the circular por-4 tionof the disk is adapted to bear, rollers ar-j ranged in alinement Vwith each other and adapted to forcibly engage the periphery of. A

a 'disk with' its adjacent cup all arranged as and for the u'rpose vset fo'rth.,V l

3. Inv a di erential mechanism a.pluralityI with an aperture therethrough,'and a plu-p rality of disks secured to said shaft, rollers upon said disks having their ends adjacent andpro'jecting through said 'driven gear and inner peripheryl of Aeach said cupped memher as .and forV the purpose set forth. 2; A `differential mechanism having'a plurality of, disks, a portionof the outer edge flanged members adapted to be diil'erentially 25 driven by said rollers as herein speciied and for the purpose set forth.-

4. A'dill'ereritial having in vcombination a plurality. of disks each having approximately one third of lits periphery removed tovprovide a single flat face, flanged memf bers' receiving each said vdisk anda roller between each said flattened surface and the adjacent langed member, said rollers being adapted to forcibly 'engage each -said disk- With its adjacent flanged member by the rotation of both vdisks or both flanged members and to disengage either said disk from' its speed inv i l flanged member by an increase of either of said flanged members.

Signed at vNew York city, in the county .140

and State of New York th/is20th day of February 1913.

H. W. CONNELL. Witnesses:

AL. H. GRAHAM, I G. E. S'rERRIrr. 

